The Evolution of Innocence
by ElfPrincessKitty
Summary: 50 Sentences/50 Themes: Life is never the same when a cowardly wizard falls in love with a beautifully plain hat-maker.


**Fandom**: Howl's Moving Castle (a Studio Ghibli film)  
**Pairing**: Howl x Sophie  
**Theme Set**: Alpha  
**Title**: The Evolution of Innocence  
**Rating**: PG-R  
**Warning(s): **Some sensuality  
**Notes**: Life is never the same when a cowardly wizard falls in love with a beautifully plain hat-maker.

01-**Comfort**

Marco had never understood the comforts of "home" until he got used to the idea of waking up to the sounds of Howl flirting with Sophie first thing in the morning.

02-**Kiss**

At the end of The War, Sophie had apparently deemed it necessary to celebrate by kissing any and all of their dear friends: this was a problem for Howl.

03-**Soft**

After finally returning to her rightful age, Sophie secretly reveled in the comfort of being in her own skin (after all, it wouldn't be particularly right to pursue her love for a certain wizard as an old cleaning lady).

04-**Pain**

It was no big secret that Howl had a very low tolerance for pain.

05-**Potatoes**

Sophie believes that being an old woman suited her best in the long run, after all, she was bland, pale, and tasteless (Howl emphatically disagrees).

06-**Rain**

Rainy days tended to bring out the worst in Howl, which also tended to bring out the worst in Sophie (her patience had limits after all).

07-**Chocolates**

So on _those days_, after making sure that the wizard was sufficiently locked in the bathroom with warm water and comic books, Markl would cuddle close to Sophie by the fire place with warm cups of hot chocolate in hand.

08-**Happiness**

For Sophie, it's hats that aren't made of straw; for Howl, it's Sophie by his side with her silver hair flying in the wind.

09-**Telephone**

What use did they have for telephones when they had a perfectly capable portal as a front door?

10-**Ears**

Being centrally located, Calcifer had the fortune to be privy to all kinds of secrets and information . . . especially on those nights when Howl has been particularly irritating in Sophie's opinion and is forced to spend the night on the couch.

11-**Name**

Everything about Sophie was boring: her clothes, her face, her hair, and her bland personality: until Howl appeared and sang her name like the sweetest serenade.

12-**Sensual**

Silken bed sheets are a perk to having a husband who is used to being spoiled with the best.

13-**Death**

Ever since the day that Calcifer burned his way out of Howl's chest with his heart, Howl had known nothing else but of endings and evasions; then she showed up in the guise of a mother he never had, and desperately needed.

14-**Sex**

Despite the rumors, Howl was very much a virgin (Sophie was not; her first love was an asshole).

15-**Touch**

Even before their first time, he knew that her touch would be the first and only one to undo him.

16-**Weakness**

And, that was perfectly o.k. with him.

17-**Tears**

Markl had followed Sophie out into the rain the night Howl's hair turned from blond to orange to black, and the sight of her tears tracing the jagged lines around her eyes was enough to make him hate Howl, just for a little while.

18-**Speed**

It amazed him how quickly everyone always took Sophie's side.

19-**Wind**

The wind smelled sweeter when experienced hundreds of feet from the ground, on the veranda of her own moving castle.

20-**Freedom**

The field of flowers was theirs, and theirs alone.

21-**Life**

"Howl, there is no possible reason to keep thirty different kinds of hair coloring potions in the bathroom!"

22-**Jealousy**

Oddly enough, Howl first experienced jealousy on the day he stumbled upon Sophie, her face a beautiful depiction of irritation and poise as two burley soldiers tried to pick her up: even then, he knew that she was _HIS_.

23-**Hands**

There was nothing more hypnotizing for Sophie than to watch Howl's hands as he casts a spell.

24-**Taste**

Sensuality was always a myth, before he had Sophie tangled in the sheets beneath him: his tongue tracing the graceful arch of her spine.

25-**Devotion**

It took Howl almost three months to create the perfect chain of spells and alchemy to create an engagement ring for Sophie that could perfectly capture the color of _his_ eyes (after all, they _were_ a dashing shade of blue-gray).

26-**Forever**

Howl had a way of making relationships that felt like they would never end.

27-**Blood**

Sophie never had a fondness for rubies, and wrinkled her nose at the sight of so many of them in Howl's old bedroom.

28-**Sickness**

Sophie promised herself that she would never again catch a cold: Howl's remedy was the unpleasant prescription of a steady supply of rather inventive potions.

29-**Melody**

Markl wanted to try karaoke; and after Howl's turn at the mike, even he admitted that it was a very bad idea.

30-**Star**

"Wow, Sophie, your hair looks just like starlight; it's beautiful!"

31-**Home**

Heen lacked any feelings of guilt when he left Madame Suliman's side for the warmth of Sophie and Howl's family.

32-**Confusion**

As a demon, Calcifer had seen a lot of things, but even he was a little taken back when he woke up one morning and a pushy old grandmother was shoving firewood in his face.

33-**Fear**

Sophie didn't want to live her entire life in a hat shop that wasn't really hers, wearing clothes that didn't really suit her.

34-**Lightning/Thunder**

The night The War ended, Howl and Sophie curled up in his massive bed with Markl between them and Heen at their toes; a storm raging in The Wastes outside, cleaning the anger and death away.

35-**Bonds**

They both share a love of green tea with lemon.

36-**Market**

Shopping with Howl can get exasperating sometimes; he can never leave a store empty-handed.

37-**Technology**

The first piece of jewelry Sophie ever received was spelled to always lead her home when she was lost.

38-**Gift**

Howl believes that all of the flowers, clothes, and jewelry in the world could never compare to the family Sophie brought upon him.

39-**Smile**

Even as a child, her smile was always fake.

40-**Innocence**

At the age of 80, Howl remained the proud owner of a child's heart: Sophie's favorite part of him.

41-**Completion**

Ever since the loss of his heart (and the sub sequential return of it), Howl had been trying to fill the odd shaped chasm in his soul: it was only later, limbs tangled in silken sheets and each other, her flushed face buried in his neck, and their joined heartbeats keeping them in tempo, that he realized that the chasm was in the shape of _her_.

42-**Clouds**

"Take me up to the sky, Howl; let's touch the clouds!"

43-**Sky**

Sometimes, being in the air, in the castle Howl built for her, feels more stable than being on the ground.

44-**Heaven**

"Sing me a song, Sophie."

45-**Hell**

There are nights when Sophie feels the Earth shake one moment, and the air vibrate with falling bombs the next moment, and wake up under warm sheets the next, only to realize that while the past has kept a tight grip on her dreams, her future lies in the promise of the man wrapped comfortingly around her.

46-**Sun**

Howl was the bright light that lead the way through the darkness, and protected them from the nothingness [with Calicfer's help, of course].

47-**Moon**

Sophie was the sentry of the night, her serenity and calm wrapping around them all like the softest sigh of starlight.

48-**Waves**

Every Sunday, Sophie forces Howl into an hour of relaxation time, where he sits with the latest newspaper, and she sits behind him, brushing the stubborn waves out of his hair.

49-**Hair**

Howl likes to return the favor.

50-**Supernova**

Neither can remember what life was like before the day they fell arm in arm with each other in the alley way.


End file.
